Lots of guesstimations in here since I don't have exact times and people didn't get back to me on things, so I might need to edit some of this post later if I find I said something incorrectly, and if I did and you know of it, just send me a PM and I'll fix it. I really can't put off this any longer.

Ronia sighed as she looked to the ground, leaning against the side of the covered wagon. She sat in the back, looking back at the trail they were on. It was bumpy and slow, definitely not as effective as flying and definitely not as much fun. Ronia stretched her wings a bit, they weren't sore at all anymore. It took a few weeks, but now they were back to normal, as was the rest of her body. Physically, she was completely back to before she was captured, quite a fast recovery, but her mental health was still rather poor.

She'd stayed with Eryne for the duration after she was rescued along with Tarsus and Eryne from Vega's ship. A handful of weeks, just long enough to get back to normal. Candy helped her a lot; for a beorc, he knew a lot about laguz. Though, it could be that it's all pretty obvious. He didn't tell her to do anything that she probably wouldn't have thought to do if she actually sat down and thought of it, but she definitely wasn't in the right mind to do anything of the sort right after she was rescued. She even though Eryne had wanted her to leave right away... she should've known better then that.

Still, Ronia had to go back home. She couldn't stay with Eryne anymore, at least, that's what Eryne told her. Eryne was crippled now, Ronia never really found out how, but she expected she might not want to know what happened to her, or Olaf... She looked down at the ground even more as she thought of the pegasus that she had ridden with Eryne, who had already gone through so much... She shook her head, she didn't want to think about that, not right now, probably never. She wished she could stay with her though, but Eryne was adamant about her needing to go home, which was true, she needed to get back to her father, but she still could have been more kind.

Instead of simply trying to calm her down and telling her everything would be alright after getting to safety, she bluntly, if memory didn't betray her, that she needed to "grow up," or at least, it was to that effect. But, what did that mean? She could only wait to physically grow up, if that would happen at all at this point... and if she meant mentally, how would she do that? She'd asked Eryne, but she never gave a direct answer, and Ronia didn't know why. Why would she tell her to do something, but not how? The only explanation Ronia could come up with was that she had to figure out how to do it on her own, that it won't work if you're just told. However, that did little to lift her spirits, she still had no idea of what she needed to do, and it'd been weeks.

Ronia signed once more. It was getting pretty hot now, she'd just been given lunch a bit ago, it must be a bit after noon. The beorc taking her back to Kilvas were very nice to her, they didn't really talk to her much, but they treated her well. To get her mind off of things, she looked over herself to make sure she still had everything. Ronia's hair had been trimmed and cleaned, so it flowed much like it did before. Her dress was mended for the most part, but not very well. She'd done the stitching herself in her spare time, which was most of it, she'd only seen the maids at her house do it before, and while it didn't look difficult, it's far more complicated then it looked. The seams were pretty clear to see, but they were better then the rips and tears that were there before.

Strapped onto her right leg was a new knife, since the one she had before was taken from her. She still had Lucie's knife as well, along with her brush. The brush was in the bag she had, along with the cloth she had taken, but the knife was on her, hidden under her dress. She could use it instead of the knife she had around her leg, but she didn't want it to get broken or stolen by using it and keeping it out in the open, but she wanted it close. She might not have ever known Lucie, but she'd never forget her or how Lucie helped her when she had no one else.

The carriage suddenly stopped. Ronia looked around, and found they were in a town. One of the beorc said to her, "Just making a short stop to restock some things, won't take too long. You can walk around if you'd like to stretch, but don't be too long, alright?" The man then went off to do his work.

Ronia signed again, and looked at the ground for a few seconds before dropping off the wagon. She could probably use a nice stretch, though she really wasn't up for it. She looked around, they were probably in the middle of the town right now, Ronia must have been really out of it not to notice. Though the place was pretty quiet, everyone must be working. She walked around a bit, pet the horses that were pulling the carriage too. While she did, she heard the people helping her talking with the man they were getting supplies from. Bandits have been roaming around the area they were about to go into, attacking people who used the trail...

Ronia signed, things just couldn't go well for once, could they? She was beginning to think she was cursed or something... Nothing she'd done since she left her father's side went right. Her first mission she was captured, her second it was a trap, third she was captured again, and then she was captured again without even going on a mission. She signed, her track record was terrible... She heard that they were going to try to hire a mercenary or two for protection, hopefully that would be enough, or better yet, the bandits wouldn't attack at all.

Note for Crimea: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

Just talk to the two people helping Ronia, you can give them names if you want. They're a bit like the two merchants in FE9, so if you recall them, they act like those two kinda. If not, they're just kind and open minded, liking to goof around a bit but can be serious when they need to be. If you need more then this, just talk to me.

Follow up of Left 4 Dead: Blood Harvest. It's been a few months and Daein has secretly been trying to find out how a handful of towns got turned into zombies and then mysteriously vanished. They eventually got a lead, but need people to investigate. The population doesn't know and most people in the military doesn't either, they won't have any help from them.

The investigation has pinpointed the most likely place the person who started the infection is at a large town, almost a city, that is strangely between a lot of the towns that got hit by the infection, but didn't get hit. Many people have also gone there recently and never returned, which only increases the chances of it being the place. A team, lead by Suzuki Saika, is being sent into the city to get information and find out if this is where he's hiding, and if so, to take the man down.~~~Alright, that's what's going on. Unlike the first, there isn't going to be action almost immediately, going to be kinda mystery type of deal, then lots of zombie ass kicking. Hopefully I can pull it off, but I have my doubts, to be honest, but I'll try my best. Here's where we're at for characters

I'm not sure how many more people I want in, but I know three is the max, so I'll just do that. Sadly, this'll not be the easiest to get into, since it has to make sense. Anyone in the Daein military could get in easily enough, but aside from that, there are some problems. You'd need to know someone in the group most likely, though one or two people could have just arrived there, and the group saves them from being infected, if anyone would want to do that. Could be very interesting actually, hmm...

Anyway, I think that's all. Need some people, and feel free to ask questions if you have any.

With Eryne, Tarsus, and Ronia finally off that ship and heading to safety, Ronia could finally relax. However, that wasn't all good. Her nervousness and adrenaline was keeping her from thinking about things she didn't want to think about, and the pain in her wings. She really strained herself too much... but there wasn't much she could do.

Once on the ship she'd just tried to stay out of the way. Tarsus and Eryne seemed busy with everyone being worried about them, more Eryne then Tarsus though, so she just tried not to get in the way. There was one person that took notice of her and her condition though, an old man who said his name was Candy. It was a strange name, but he was kind, and a healer. He looked her over, he could tell she hadn't had the best of care, but reassured her that she'd recover just fine as long as she rested and stretched her wings. After that he gave her a lollipop and told her to rest. It was weird, and tasted just as weird, but good, and she took his advice.

She didn't sleep soundly though. Her mind was racing, there was no imminent danger or threat looming over her forcing her to block out what had happened to her before. The feelings of fear, hopelessness, and loneliness were coming back strong. No amount of reasoning or logic would hold them back, only weaken them. She desperately needed to talk to Eryne, to hug her and have her hug her back, and she just couldn't sleep, even though she was exhausted.

When they finally got back to the town Ronia left the room she had found to lie in and tried to find Eryne, she couldn't hold back anymore. She had missed her so much, and so many things had gone wrong since the last time the could talk. She wanted to feel safe and cared for, and Eryne could make her feel that way.

While Ronia was the last one to leave the ship she quickly caught up to Eryne. She was limping really badly, using a cane... Ronia hadn't gotten a chance to think about it before, but she must have really gotten herself hurt... and... where was Olaf anyway? She hadn't thought of him nearly as much as Eryne or her father, but she loved him too... where was he?

Hugging Eryne was the most important thing, she had wanted to and resisted hugging her ever since Tarsus brought her to the ship, and it felt great, even though Ronia had to make sure she didn't hurt Eryne in the process She didn't know why she was limping, so she had to be careful, and didn't hug her too tightly. Just being close to her again was enough.

"I-I really missed you, Eryne..." she said, tearing. She had been crying before in the room, but she'd dried her face off before leaving, but she was at it again. She couldn't help herself, she was finally with Eryne... "Can we go somewhere and talk...? I have a lot I want to tell and ask you..."

Note: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

Hope you don't mind me using Candy a bit, I just recalled his existence and thought it'd be nice for Ronia to know that she'd be okay, physically at any rate. I was planning on going farther and getting them away from everyone else, but I thought you'd be better suited for that.

Ryst was, even after the walk, still shaken by that last experience. He had been talking to Zap on the way back into town, but it had done little good for his churning stomach. Back in the clearing, Ryst thought he had gotten rid of this queasy feeling, but he had been wrong. Zap had just asked him a question, but he couldn't bring himself to answer. After a moment of silence, he realized he was being rude.

"Sorry, Zap, I'm not feeling too well. What did you say?"---Zap was real tired, but not too bad off. He wasn't effected too badly to what he had to do during the fight, but it seemed Ryst wasn't so lucky. Zap kinda felt bad for not feeling bad, if that makes sense. Sure, he didn't like killing a fellow cat laguz, but he was trying to kill them, he did what he had to do, feeling bad about it doesn't really help the poor guy you just killed, does it? They were talking fairly steadily until Ryst seemed to drift off. Zap asked him if he was okay, but there was no response, then he snapped out of it, if only slightly.

"Ya, I can tell. I just said I was going to be going to Begnion after this, then asked you if you were okay since you seemed to drift off a bit. Guess you answered that without even knowing I asked just now."---Ryst shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Begnion, huh? Haven't been there in quite a while. I picked up a shipment of metals just the other month...."

He just couldn't get the image out of his head.

"Gah! This is frustrating! I don't normally kill, and it isn't any more pleasant to kill a brother."

He knew he was going to have to have some therapy or something. Perhaps he could change the subject entirely and get his mind off of it.

"If Henry were here, he might know how to fix this. He always seems to have an answer to stuff."---Zap watched as he talked of a dealing he had in Begnion. He was hoping that meant he was feeling better, but he began to trail off... then kinda exploded. It was just like Zap expected. Ryst wasn't use to killing people like Zap was starting to become. Man, that was lame. All Zap wanted to do was nap in trees and play with his two little sisters, nice and safe at home. But no, he was forced out by his father and now was becoming dulled to killing, just great. Before he could respond, Ryst continued talking. It seemed like he was trying to change the subject, so while he was slightly wondering what he was hoping he could fix, he didn't ask in case it was the obvious.

"Who's Henry?" he asked, helping Ryst change the subject, "Someone you do business with?" The thought of his sisters also sparked another question, "and hey, do you have any family?"---Ryst appreciated Zap's simple questions, knowing his friend had caught the basic drift.

"You could say that he an acquaintance. I met him once, a few months back, when he was in Arbor. A fight had broken out in the town, and he had....hid, I suppose, in my room at the local inn. We met when I came home and found him there."

It was much easier talking to Zap than he thought.

"He's a Lance Knight in the Crimean Royal Army. You probably won't meet him; he's tied to his platoon like a ribbon on a present." Hehe....amusing analogy. "He stops by my forge every now and then. I enjoy his insight."

Then Ryst remembered the other question.

"And yes, I do have family, back in Gallia: a mom, dad, and a younger brother. How about you?"---"Well that's quite an unusual way to meet someone, seemed to work out for the best though. Maybe I'll try to meet up with him while I'm in Crimea again." He kinda doubted that would happen, but it could, always was good to have contacts. He laughed a bit at the analogy as well, "That's one of the reasons I didn't join the Gallian military like my father wanted me to, aside from the fact I'm lazy and don't like fighting."

"And family? I have a huge one, at least it seems like. I have an older sister and two younger sisters, twins, actually. Mother stays at home while my father works in the military all the time. He's a high-ranked officer, so we don't have to worry about money, so that's nice. He kicked me out because I never did anything except sleep and play with my younger sisters though, so now I'm getting into messes like this little job here to 'build character.'"---"Character's good. You can't just sit around and do nothing all day, anyway. No work would get done."

They had been talking for what seemed so short a time, and yet the town was just up the road. They would have to part ways soon. This saddened Ryst greatly, as he had been hoping to stay in town for a while, but recent events dictated his course of action; he had to get back to his forge in Arbor.

At least his new friend was easy to understand. Everything began and ended in food. Or, at least, that what Ryst's impression was. Zap seemed mildly unmotivated most of the time, but he was sympathetic, and useful when it mattered most.

"I probably won't be able to stay too long. I have to get back to Arbor."

This was the easy way to say goodbye for him. It had to be casual and concise, or it might never end.---"You can if people let you," Zap said, annoyed, though not at Ryst. "And who says work needs to be done? It's not like I'm doing much of any work normally. Just trying to stay alive mostly. And if work does need to be done, why do I need to do it? And playing with my sisters is work...-ish, just fun work."

Ryst continued to talk after Zap responded, "And ya, just food. I want something good for a change. Raw meat gets old really, really, REALLY fast. Money would work too though, but I wouldn't use it on food, which is why I'd rather get food as my pay."

Zap usually didn't talk much. Compared to how much he thought, it was a small fraction, and apparently he was trying to compensate now. Was he talking too much? Well, if he started thinking like that now, he'd be thinking too much again, and what good would that do for the poor speak/thought fraction? Only make it worse, that's right. Seemed they were out of time anyway.

"I won't stay too long either, I'm gonna head to Begnion. I might have better luck with some game up there, seems to getting sparse for me around here."

In this little plot of land, there is a "Lord" who claimed the land for himself by the name Barton. It isn't part of the 22 true counties, however, no matter how much the "Lord" tried to make it one. It was frustrating, Barton had so much ambition, but couldn't enact on it. All he could claim for himself was this little plot of land, and you know why? It was dangerously near one of the marshes that littered Olivan, plus it was near Arad'uun as well, which didn't help things at all. No one else wanted it. He had his castle though, peasants to take care of the land he had, and most importantly, a plan. While his little plot of land was pathetic and dangerous, he did have something another real Lord didn't have, a son. Mind you, not a good son, but a son, and that meant he could be married off. Once married off, his son would be the one to inherit that Lord's land, and since his son was pathetic, Barton would take control for him.

However, his son Jake wasn't exactly up for it. He was a romantic, disgustingly so. He had no intention of ever ruling anything and had the ambition of an ant. None at all. All he wanted from life was to find someone he loved and be with them forever. He was a poet as well, liked to sing and dance and his father hated every second of it. No matter what his father did to try to make him change failed. He was starting to think that his son was worthless, and sadly his own wife succumb to disease, no doubt due to being so close to those accursed marshes, so he could not try for another. But now this opportunity had arisen, he'd use his son to get everything he wanted and knew he deserved.

But as said, his son wasn't up for it. He didn't love the other Lord's daughter, he hadn't even met her before. Jake simply couldn't stand being forced into marriage like this. He fell into a depression because of it. He was helpless to stop the wedding, and all he had hoped for his future would be ruined forever. Not only that, but he could rarely express himself. Even in his condition, his father would not allow him to sing, eventually locking him in the castle's tallest tower after he became too annoying and tried to run away.

Poor Jake had only one hope, he was a decent archer, one of the things his father got him to do to toughen him up which of course failed, and with this skill he thought of a plan. It was unlikely, but he had to do something. He wrote a letter, a plea for help explaining the situation, made copies of it, and sent the arrows flying out of the windows in his room in all directions. He could only hope that some honorable knight or adventurer would find his plea for help and come rescue him. The mere thought lifted his mood.

~~~

In the air on wyvernback, Southern Olivan

Sleeping as usual, Zap and his furry companion Snow were napping on the back of Leopold's wyvern Helzua. Where were they going? Hell if Zap knew. With their luck and Leopold's sense of adventure, they could be going literally anywhere, and probably somewhere were it would be difficult to get any quality sleep. Thankfully though, Zap and Snow had adapted to sleeping in a saddle almost instantly, so it never really mattered much. For right now though, they would simply be flying around, not going anywhere in particular. Leopold seemed to stumble upon things to do, so this would be the best way to go at it. It was unusual for them to stumble upon it like this though...

Out of nowhere, an arrow came zooming at them and without any of the four of them realizing it until it was too late. An arrow hit and dug itself into Leopold's shoulder. Leopold wasn't wearing his armor... that had to hurt... Leopold yelled in pain and quickly thought they were under attack, but Zap saw the note tied to it, and read it to himself quickly, or as quickly as he ever went, and got Leopold to realize what it was. "Looks like..." he paused to yawn, "someone's asking for some help. Lemme read it to you..."

"Dear whomever finds this arrow and note,

I am being kept against my own will in the tallest tower of the Strathmore Castle, Strathmore of Olivan. If you found this arrow, you must be close to it. Please come and rescue me. My father is forcing me to marry into another Lord's family so that he may take that county for his own and leave me to live out the rest of my days with one whom I do not love. I beg thee to help me escape. I would like there to be no bloodshed if possible as well. While they are detaining me, I do not wish harm to the guards that have protected me since my youth... Please, please come save me."

"...Why's she talking all funny? And no signature... And lemme," he paused to yawn again, "guess, you wanna help her, right?" Zap didn't particularly want to, it was work and he didn't like work. Though, he always was irrationally attracted to helping women, even when it went against his other objectives. However, it was up to Leopold like always, he'd do whatever Leopold wanted to do in the end.